معرفی
Bárbara Domingues Bitarello serves as Assistant Professor of Biology at Bryn Mawr College, leading computational research in population genetics and evolutionary biology with emphasis on human genomic diversity and defense-related gene evolution.
Her academic background includes:
- B.S. in biological sciences from State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), 2008
- Ph.D. in genetics and evolutionary biology from University of São Paulo, 2016
Research centers on medical genetics of understudied populations (African/Latin American ancestries) and evolutionary analysis of immunity/skin barrier/bitter taste receptor genes. Her lab employs genomics and bioinformatics to investigate balancing selection mechanisms, polygenic risk score transferability across ancestries, and long-term diversifying evolution in primate bitter taste receptors, addressing critical gaps in genomic representation.
Key recognition:
- ASHG Trainee Paper Spotlight for "Polygenic Scores for Height in Admixed Populations"
Mentors undergraduate researchers including Nicole Cavalieri (Literatures in English '26), Kuankuan Hu (Biology/Dance '25), Kira Morozova (Mathematics '26), and Daphne Hansell (Public Health '24). Current projects involve phylogenetic analysis of TAS2R14 evolution, PRS methodology improvements, and balancing selection signatures using genome-scale data, funded through institutional and external research grants.
The Bitarello Lab operates within Bryn Mawr's Biology Department, collaborating with institutions like CHOP and Haverford College on evolutionary genomics projects, with active participation in outreach initiatives like "Ancestry Matters" discussions on genomic diversity representation.
